When your home has been damaged by some sort of unfortunate event, it can be traumatic enough without the added complexity that can come from having to file an insurance claim. But getting stressed over these events can leave you at a great disadvantage, causing you to make errors that can cost you your reimbursement.

Failure to Take Photos

You can prevent mistakes on a future claim by ensuring you have taken pictures of your property prior to the damage.  This doesn’t mean consulting a crystal ball and trying to predict a future incident; all you have to do is create some kind of written inventory of the items you own, including photos and video of those items each and every year. Once you have your inventory together, store them somewhere located away from your home to avoid damage in the event of a disaster.

Cleaning Up

Believe it or not, cleaning your damaged property after disaster has struck can actually cost you much more than you think when it comes time to file your claim. The same is true of making repairs to damaged property. The problem with this is that by cleaning up and trying to repair things, you are making the damage look less severe. The best advice is to wait on cleanup and repairs until insurance claim adjusters have had time to come out and inspect the damage. Cleaning up will actually prevent you from proving extensive property damage.

Failure to Prevent More Damage

On the other side of the coin, the last thing you want is further property damage. So if your roof has been ruined due to a felled tree, for example, experts advise that you cover it up as best as possible, as does your insurance policy. Any holder of a home insurance policy must either mitigate or prevent further damage to their property. Some solutions to preventing further damage include covering damage using means appropriate to that damage. A damaged wall or window of a home can be boarded up, and a hole in the roof can be covered with tarp.

In the event that your property is so damaged that your local authorities won’t allow you to access it to prevent further damage, your Florida public adjuster and insurance company will appreciate a letter from those authorities which states that your property is too extensively damaged for you to access. A letter of this nature will help you to prove that you took reasonable steps to protect your property form further damage.

Exaggerating Damage

One mistake that many homeowners make following damage to their home is to claim more damage than what actually occurred. The bottom line is that making false claims can end up in disaster for you. As well, it makes the job of your public adjuster that much more difficult. Thousands of these ‘padded’ claims have resulted in denial, with many policies being cancelled completely. A policy cancelled by one insurance company can result in denials of coverage from other companies.

Filing a claim can be stressful and confusing. But it doesn’t have to be when you contact a public adjuster. Find out how you can make your insurance claim stress-free by calling 877-869-8989.